The scarlet runner bean (Phaseolus coccineus) is a great annual that is both ornamental and edible.

The quick-growing bean has light- to medium-green foliage and gets its name from the scarlet
three-quarter-inch pea flowers that grow up and out over the vine. The blooms are loved by
hummingbirds but can also be used as a garnish or as a splash of color in a salad. The beans can be
eaten both green and dried.

This bean is a climber; it needs to twist or twine up a trellis, arbor or fence. Visitors can
walk beneath scarlet runner beans growing on an arbor in the potage garden at the Franklin Park
Conservatory and Botanical Gardens.